Neuroscience
On a broader scope, if we associate semantic meanings with what we perceive, then maybe we can understand how our brain reacts to ideas themselves, and, in turn, understand the biological basis of perception. In addition, we perceive meaning and ideas far too complex to be explained by a neuroscientific understanding of the brain. For example, on when we perceive the beauty of art, “our senses do not easily grasp the complex aspects of the richly textured meaning of art,” says Anjan Chatterjee of The Scientist. Regardless, we may be coming close to understanding of certain ideas, as, according to scientists Tomohiro Ishizu and Semir Zeki from University College London, [2] when we see something beautiful, various parts of the brain, including the ventral striatum, are triggered. This could explain the biological basis of how we perceive beauty, and, in similar ways, we could find a biological basis for how we perceive the world. But we shouldn't carried away with our understanding of the mind. There’s still a great deal of disagreement between neuroscientists, philosophers and everyone in between.
If anything, synesthesia is a way our bodies speak to us. And, in that sense, we express it in our language and literature. We may describe a dull grey stone metaphorically as a melancholic, somber appearance with a droning bland tone. A sharp pointed object may invoke fright or high-pitched shrieks of stringed instruments. Through other forms of media, a guitar might gently weep or a streetcar may desire. Synesthesia could be evidence that our literary metaphors are grounded in our psychology.
References:
[1] http://nautil.us/issue/26/color/what-color-is-this-song
[2] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0021852
[3] http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39802/title/Neuroaesthetics/
[4] http://ed.ted.com/lessons/ideasthesia-how-do-ideas-feel-danko-nikolic
[5] http://www.stresstips.com/what-is-ideasthesia/
- Neuroaesthetics
From the BBC: Understanding the brain on dance 27 February 2012 Last updated at 23:29 ET [snip]"How does the brain perceive and interpret beautiful movement? "This is one of the key questions being asked by scientists at Bangor University who have enlisted...
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I was so excited about my possible synesthetic experience last week (aural synesthesia?) that I didn't explain what synesthesia actually is. It just so happened that on last week's episode of Australia's terrific radio program All in the Mind,...
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Neuroscience
Color of the Song: A Look at Synesthesia
Read this article in the Indiana Daily Student here....
On a broader scope, if we associate semantic meanings with what we perceive, then maybe we can understand how our brain reacts to ideas themselves, and, in turn, understand the biological basis of perception. In addition, we perceive meaning and ideas far too complex to be explained by a neuroscientific understanding of the brain. For example, on when we perceive the beauty of art, “our senses do not easily grasp the complex aspects of the richly textured meaning of art,” says Anjan Chatterjee of The Scientist. Regardless, we may be coming close to understanding of certain ideas, as, according to scientists Tomohiro Ishizu and Semir Zeki from University College London, [2] when we see something beautiful, various parts of the brain, including the ventral striatum, are triggered. This could explain the biological basis of how we perceive beauty, and, in similar ways, we could find a biological basis for how we perceive the world. But we shouldn't carried away with our understanding of the mind. There’s still a great deal of disagreement between neuroscientists, philosophers and everyone in between.
If anything, synesthesia is a way our bodies speak to us. And, in that sense, we express it in our language and literature. We may describe a dull grey stone metaphorically as a melancholic, somber appearance with a droning bland tone. A sharp pointed object may invoke fright or high-pitched shrieks of stringed instruments. Through other forms of media, a guitar might gently weep or a streetcar may desire. Synesthesia could be evidence that our literary metaphors are grounded in our psychology.
References:
[1] http://nautil.us/issue/26/color/what-color-is-this-song
[2] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0021852
[3] http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/39802/title/Neuroaesthetics/
[4] http://ed.ted.com/lessons/ideasthesia-how-do-ideas-feel-danko-nikolic
[5] http://www.stresstips.com/what-is-ideasthesia/
- Neuroaesthetics
From the BBC: Understanding the brain on dance 27 February 2012 Last updated at 23:29 ET [snip]"How does the brain perceive and interpret beautiful movement? "This is one of the key questions being asked by scientists at Bangor University who have enlisted...
- More About Synesthesia
I was so excited about my possible synesthetic experience last week (aural synesthesia?) that I didn't explain what synesthesia actually is. It just so happened that on last week's episode of Australia's terrific radio program All in the Mind,...
- A Journey Into Our Neural Code (and The Mind Itself)
8-bit brain credit to Mitch Bolton.The brain is cool, but it's also really confusing. Given how complex it is, can we develop a model of information from it? Often, when we study the brain, we get caught up in the middle of a lot of things, both...
- A Theory Of Everything, For Everyone
Read this article in the Indiana Daily Student here.... Hilbert's tombSince a theory of everything would all the forces of matter, it would be elegant in how much information could be explained so simply. The math and physics behind theory would all...
- Mental Illness As A Language
Read this article in the Indiana Daily Student here.... To be or not to be clinically depressed.Mental health is an increasingly important issue. The World Health Organization estimates mental disorders will have become the world’s largest cause of...